Considering the news just broke early Wednesday morning [March 23], the Hip Hop community is still reeling from the unexpected passing of Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor. In a late night Facebook post, Jarobi White, one of four members of A Tribe Called Quest, wrote a couple of things he wanted for his friend.
Members of the Hip-Hop Discussion Group have already started a similar petition by requesting the cooperation of Council Member I. Deneek Miller and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to support their newly proposed co-naming of Linden Boulevard (between 192 Street and 193 Street) to “A Tribe Called Quest Boulevard.” The petition has collected 1,188 supporters out of the 1500 needed.
Linden Boulevard, of course, was referenced in A Tribe Called Quest’s track, “Steve Biko (Stir It Up”), from the group’s 1993 album, Midnight Marauders.
Taylor passed away due to complications stemming from diabetes, a battle he’d been fighting for nearly three decades. He was 45.
